24 Jun 2018

Bobonong Magistrate Court has acquitted and discharged Thabiso Lekang, 28, of Dandane ward in Bobonong from a case of drunken driving.

Magistrate Vinga Kedikilwe said the defence raised many issues, such as that the person operating the breathalyser was not qualified to handle it.

A submission that she said was more outstanding to the case was failure by the prosecution to file the affidavit about the service history of the breathalyser that was used on the accused person.

Magistrate Kedikilwe said the service history of the machine was important to the case, hence arriving at the conclusion that the prosecution did not have a prima facie evidence to continue with the case for the offence of drunken driving.

The defence attorney had applied for a no case to answer, which the magistrate concurred with, stating that the affidavit of the service history of the machine was key to pin the accused to the offence.

According to the charge sheet, Lekang, a nurse at Bobonong Primary Hospital, was accused of driving a vehicle while his breath specimen was at 0.30mg exceeding the prescribed permissible limit of 0.22mg of alcohol in 100ml of breath.

Lekang was arrested on February 9 near Madikwe Primary School in Bobonong.

The prosecution was represented by Sub Inspector Elias of Bobonong Police.

In another traffic offence, Magistrate Kedikilwe has accorded a former Bobonong-based police officer Galani Gazangeni, 46, now based at Lerala Police Station, until July 26 to apply for permanent stay of execution (dismissal) of a case in which he is facing a single count of causing death with a motor vehicle while under the influence of alcohol.

Gazangeni told the court that he wished to conduct his own defence.

The particulars of the offence are that Gazangeni, on March 10, 2016, along Bobonong Junior Secondary School road, while unfit to drive because his alcohol content was 0.50mg of breath, unlawfully caused an accident that killed one Goratamang Monamati, whom he knocked while he was crossing the road on foot. The state is represented by Sub Inspector Elias.

Magistrate Kedikilwe set July 26 as the date for the ruling on the application for permanent stay.

In yet another traffic-related offence, Richard Keabona, also accused of drunken driving, has pleaded with the court that prosecution furnish him with the certificate of calibration and service history, statements, breath results slip, year of purchase and the operator’s manual to prepare his defence.

The court set July 9 for another mention. ENDS